Return Gently at Twilight
by WhatBecomesOfYou
Summary: One long night at the lab, a ghost is lurking around, and old memories are brought to the surface. Calleigh/Eric. Now complete!
1. Of Shattered Slides and Clandestine Naps

**TITLE**: Return Gently at Twilight, Chapter 1  
**AUTHOR**: WhatBecomesOfYou  
**FANDOM**: CSI: Miami  
**PAIRINGS**: Eric/Calleigh  
**PROMPT**: Haunting  
**RATING**: PG  
**WORD COUNT**: 1040  
**SUMMARY**: One long night at the lab, a ghost is lurking around, and old memories are brought to the surface.  
**SPOILERS/WARNINGS**: Anything through the end of season seven is fair game.  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: Title taken from a poem by TS Eliot. Set sometime after the end of season seven, but no real timeline given. Written for paranormal25 on LiveJournal.

* * *

Eric rubbed his eyes and glanced at his watch. It seemed as though time had moved _so_ slowly, and yet, they were no closer to solving the cases. He glanced out the window, at the reds and oranges of the Miami sunset, painting the floor a vivid, bright picture. A tree branch swayed in the distance, casting eerie shadows across the room. Settling down with the evidence to process, he sighed. It was going to be a long night. At least they were all in it…_together._

* * *

Ryan peered through his microscope, analyzing the tiny pieces of evidence that they had collected earlier in the day. "Ryan, I _need_ those results," Natalia said somewhat impatiently, hovering over his shoulder and tapping one heel on the floor, shattering his concentration.

"They will be ready in a while, be _patient_, Natalia," he replied. Muttering furiously under his breath as she walked away, he turned back to the microscope. "I can only go so fast and have the results be _accurate_." Feeling a brush of cold air, he shivered involuntarily. He looked down, peering through the eyepiece. "What the –"

He reeled backward from the microscope, pulling out the slide quickly – almost too quickly - and stared at it in absolute horror. The slide, previously in pristine condition, had cracked and shattered, vaguely resembling a spider's web in its pattern.

Glancing around, the lab seemed as normal. He let out a pained sigh and found a new slide, preparing to put the evidence on it and get back to work. Thankfully, he thought with relief, the evidence _hadn't_ been ruined. He could still salvage this.

* * *

Later that evening, the sound of gunshots rang out through the silent halls, emanating from the firing range. Calleigh sighed, rubbing her eyes and taking off the earmuffs. Smiling weakly, she brushed invisible dust particles from her shirt and walked out of the range, in search of caffeinated rejuvenation. The tiredness, she thought bleakly, would take over soon enough, and the last thing any of them needed was a tragic firing range accident due to fatigue. Firing guns could wait.

As she walked through the hallway, she felt a cool rush of air, a welcome change from the stifling humidity she had felt when coming into work that morning. She shivered, and the tiny hairs on her arms stood on end, almost petrified into place. "That's odd," she murmured, shoving it to the back of her mind. "It must be the air conditioning kicking in." Continuing on, her heels clicked rhythmically against the floor, her mind set on the beacon that was the break room coffee machine, and the strange antics of the air conditioner were soon forgotten.

* * *

Eric saw a flash of golden blonde hair round the corner, headed for the break room. "Calleigh," he said, loudly enough to attract her attention, but not loudly enough to attract anyone else's. "Everything going okay down in ballistics?"

She scrunched her nose and sighed, leaning into him. "Getting a bit tired, nothing to update though," she placed one hand on his upper arm and groaned slightly. "Need coffee."

"Let's get coffee for each of us then," he said softly, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek. "No need for us to fall asleep here."

"Ew, no," she replied with a sleepy grin. "Can you _imagine_ the bed head I'd get from sleeping here?"

He looked at her for a moment, deep in thought. "You'd still be beautiful."

She smiled and let out a small yawn. "You're so sweet. 'Kay, I need coffee _now_."

* * *

A while later, after a fresh pot had been brewed, the two crime scene investigators stood around, sipping the scalding hot liquid. "I wonder when we can go home," Calleigh said, arching her back. "It'd be nice to get some _real_ sleep."

"Last time I saw H, about an hour or so ago, he said we needed to stay for now. The night shift have their own cases to take care of, and there's just _too_ many for us to justify skipping out now and picking up in the morning."

"Great," she replied, sarcastically. "That's the _last _thing I wanted to hear."

"Cal, you _know_ if I heard anything that would release us for the night, I'd tell you."

"I know," she drained the remainder of the cup into her mouth and smiled. "I guess I was hoping you were withholding information."

"Never."

She turned to leave, holding the cup in one hand, when Ryan came in, holding a tray of shattered microscope slides. "Did either of you have anything to do with this?" he asked, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Exchanging quick glances, both Calleigh and Eric shook their heads. "No, not us," Eric said. "What happened?"

"I leave the lab for _five minutes_, and when I come back, I find all of _this_ next to my microscope. I thought it was some sort of _prank_."

Calleigh pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, you two can discuss the merits of this being a prank; _meanwhile_, I'm going back to work. These cases won't solve themselves."

"'Bye Cal," Eric said, giving her a quick kiss, tasting the faint taste of lab coffee lingering on her lips.

"I'd say goodbye to you too, Calleigh, but I think Eric here would hit me for it," Ryan said, with a short laugh. As they all laughed, she slipped away, her mind cleared. It was time for her to go back to work.

* * *

Calleigh slumped against the wall of the ballistics lab a short time later, the tiredness washing over her in waves, the immediate buzz from her cup of coffee worn off. Burying her face in her knees, she closed her eyes. "Just a few minutes," she whispered to herself. "Just a few minutes, and then I can get back to work."

She faded off to sleep, her hair falling over her face. A person stepped out from the shadowy reaches of the lab and watched her sleep. Their face twitched into a very small, very faint smile, before resolutely turning stoic and emotionless. They flitted back into the shadows, back where they had come from, still always keeping one eye on the sweet southern blonde and her clandestine nap.

-_to be continued_-


	2. Of Picking Daisies and Church Bells

**TITLE**: Return Gently at Twilight, Chapter 2  
**AUTHOR**: WhatBecomesOfYou  
**FANDOM**: CSI: Miami  
**PAIRINGS**: Eric/Calleigh  
**PROMPT**: Haunting  
**RATING**: PG  
**WORD COUNT**: 1102  
**SUMMARY**: One long night at the lab, a ghost is lurking around, and old memories are brought to the surface.  
**SPOILERS/WARNINGS**: Anything through the end of season seven is fair game.  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: Title taken from a poem by TS Eliot. Set sometime after the end of season seven, but no real timeline given. Written for paranormal25 on LiveJournal. There will be probably at least a couple more chapters after this one, depending on how things go. Reviews would be lovely, I'd love to hear what people think of this. Thanks to those who reviewed chapter one!

* * *

_A young Calleigh sat in the middle of a field of daisies, her long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders. Daintily, she picked one of the daisies, and began plucking the petals. "He loves me…he loves me not…" she sang merrily. "He loves me…" The last petal was picked, and she let loose a high-pitched giggle, picking another daisy to repeat the game._

_Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a bitterly cold wind began to blow, and thousands of raindrops angrily pelted the field, drenching Calleigh. A jagged lightning bolt divided the sky, lighting it up like a Fourth of July fireworks display, followed shortly by loud booms of thunder. Scared, she ran, trying to find her way back home, but in the confusion that was made worse due to the storm, she was lost. Tears streaked down her face as she ran, mud splashing against the hem of her dress, ruining the pristine whiteness of it. _

_From the shadows of the trees, a man stepped out. "Calleigh," he said, simply. _

_Her large eyes grew even wider, and her throat clenched shut, the face being one she recognized – all too well. After a few tense seconds, she hissed out, "What are __**you**__ doing here?"_

"_I've come to take you home, Calleigh."_

"_But…you should…you shouldn't be here."_

"_Why not?"_

"_You're…you're __**supposed**__ to be…"_

"_Don't let that frighten you."_

"_How can it not?"_

"_Just…trust me."_

_She turned away to gaze at the sky, the brilliant lightning show captivating her. "I wish I could," she said softly, the words nearly drowned out by a roll of thunder. "__**I wish I could**__." Turning back to face him, she was aghast to see that he was already gone, almost as though he had never been there at all, her footsteps being the only ones tracking through the mud. She felt the earth move under her feet, and she began screaming, screaming for anyone who could hear her…_

* * *

She woke up sweating, her face sticking to the fabric of her pants. "Damn it," she muttered furiously under her breath. "How long was I out?" Checking her cell phone's clock quickly, she saw that she had been asleep for a couple of hours, as the digital clock on her phone gently reminded her that it wasn't even midnight yet. "And what a _vivid_ nap that was," she thought, mentally chiding herself for succumbing to the temptation of sleep.

Getting up from her sleeping position, she stretched her arms out over her head, allowing the hem of her shirt to ride up a bit. A pair of arms wrapped around her waist just then, startling Calleigh. "Hey Cal," Eric said, "You okay? I haven't seen you for a while, and considering this whole situation we're in tonight, I was worried."

She gulped slightly. "I fell asleep and had a bad dream."

He brushed some of the loose strands back from her face. "Feel like talking about it?"

"_He_ was there," she said, just above a whisper. "And with everything that's happened tonight…"

"You mean, with Ryan and his mishandling of microscope slides?" he teased.

"You _know_ as well as I do that Ryan wouldn't break those slides himself."

"No, but he could have dropped the tray."

She narrowed her eyes and turned to face him. "_Ryan_? The same Ryan we've worked with for _five_ _years_?"

"What other explanation is there, Cal? Either he's the one responsible – whether he realizes it or not - or one of the night shift is being a prankster tonight."

Not quite convinced, but placated for the time being, she pushed back away from him and smiled. "We should get on the other cases. It's nearly midnight, and I'd like to get some real sleep sometime before sunrise."

"The witching hour," he said, his dark eyes glittering in the dim light of the lab. "I'll let you get back to your work, Cal."

* * *

Eric returned to the evidence analysis that he had been doing with Natalia prior to hearing Calleigh scream. "Anything new come up while I was gone?" he asked as he re-entered the room.

She merely stared. "I…I left the room for a few minutes…ask Ryan if he was done with the analysis on the Dominguez case _yet_…and I came back…to _this_," she said, gesturing to the evidence table. All of their carefully organized evidence, every piece of it, was strewn over the table, under the table, and into places where Eric _knew_ there was no _good_ reason for them to be there.

"What is going on tonight?" he thought out loud, as he helped Natalia re-organize the evidence.

"What do you mean?"

"Ryan's slides all broke earlier. Calleigh had a bad dream in the ballistics lab. And now _this_ happened with our evidence. It's crazy. This never happens to us."

"_Obviously_ we're all suffering from a severe lack of sleep and caffeine," she said, shrugging with a smile. "I'm _just_ saying, Eric."

"This never would have never happened if we didn't have to stay late tonight. The criminals of Miami are on overdrive."

"_That's it_. We're on edge because we're not used to being here this time of night, and every little thing out of the ordinary that happens is making us jumpier."

"Are you trying to rationalize this?"

"Yes," she said with a grin. "You have a better explanation?"

Calleigh walked in before Eric could reply, her face set in a firm line. She was carrying her crime scene kit. "_I'd_ like an explanation as well," she said, firmly. "Have either of you seen my crime scene light? I had it earlier, and I put it back in _here_, and now it's not there."

Both Eric and Natalia shook their heads. "Haven't seen it, Cal, you sure you didn't misplace it on accident?"

"No. The last time something happened to it…" The unspoken words hung in the air delicately, the understanding passing between Eric and Calleigh.

"What happened?" Natalia asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Nothing," they both said quickly. "Nothing we need to worry about."

"Oookay then..."

As the three of them stood there, the air thickly charged with tension, a chime sounded from somewhere in the distance, the stillness of the night allowing for the sound to travel. "Church bells," Calleigh murmured. "It's midnight."

Loud, banging footsteps sounded in the hallway, and a cold wash of dread washed over the three. "What will this night bring?"

-_to be continued_-


	3. Of Sunglasses and Solving Mysteries

**TITLE**: Return Gently at Twilight, Chapter 3  
**AUTHOR**: WhatBecomesOfYou  
**FANDOM**: CSI: Miami  
**PAIRINGS**: Eric/Calleigh  
**PROMPT**: Haunting  
**RATING**: PG  
**WORD COUNT**: 1144  
**SUMMARY**: One long night at the lab, a ghost is lurking around, and old memories are brought to the surface.  
**SPOILERS/WARNINGS**: Anything through the end of season seven is fair game.  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: Title taken from a poem by TS Eliot. Set sometime after the end of season seven, but no real timeline given. There will be two more chapters after this. Thanks for all of the reviews and positive feedback on the story so far, and hope you enjoy the new chapter! Written for paranormal25 on LiveJournal.

* * *

The footsteps continued, echoing down the hallway, heading toward them. Eric's arm found itself looping around Calleigh's waist, pulling her closer to him. A slight whimper emitted from Calleigh's throat, her large eyes scanning the room. She had been trying to tell herself all night long that there was a perfectly rational reason for everything going on, that they were _scientists_ and everything could be explained using logic, but a part of her wondered… "No, Calleigh, don't be silly," she whispered to herself. "There is _no such thing_ as ghosts."

A loud crash came from behind her, and she turned around to see Natalia holding up her hands in surrender. "Sorry, sorry," Natalia said with a sheepish grin and a slight shrug of the shoulders. "I knocked into the chair, and it fell over."

Calleigh glared, and turned back to Eric. "Practically gave me a heart attack," she said softly.

"I'll protect you, Cal," Eric said, looking down at her, with a protective gleam in his eyes. "Even from Natalia and her innate ability to knock chairs over without even trying." This earned him a glare from Natalia, who spun around and left the room.

The two of them stood there, listening as the clatter of Natalia's shoes went in the opposite direction as the mysterious set of footsteps was coming from. Casting uneasy glances at each other, Calleigh peeked out into the hallway. "Is anyone there?" she asked, tentative and scared. From the shadows, just beyond the lights of the hallway, she saw someone move. "H? Ryan? Is that you?"

"Don't worry, Calleigh, it's me," Horatio said, stepping out of the shadows and removing his sunglasses, tucking them into a shirt pocket. "I suppose there's no need to wear these this time of night."

"You _don't_ know how happy I am that it's you, H," she replied. "I thought it was…never mind."

"Mr. Wolfe?"

"Yeah, we'll go with that," she replied, exhaling slightly. "Better than the _alternative_," she thought with mild amusement. "No need to bring up tonight's events if I don't have to."

"Well, I'll let you get back to work," he said, smiling and walking away, down the hallway from where he had come from. She yawned and smiled back at him, walking back into the room.

From down the hallway, in the darkness of night, punctuated solely by a thin beam of light, a man stood stoically, arms folded, watching the conversation between Horatio and Calleigh unfold.

* * *

As Horatio walked down the hallway, he put his sunglasses back on. "Force of habit," he murmured, realizing after he had already put them on that there was a tell-tale blotch, a small speck of dirt on one lens. Removing them discreetly, he rubbed the lens with the tail of his shirt, and when he believed himself to be satisfied, he held them up in front of him in order to see if he had fully removed the spot, catching a dim ray of light from a nearby office.

In the reflection of the lens, he saw a man standing right behind his shoulder, a face he hadn't seen in years. A face that he shouldn't be seeing ever again, except in his own memories and picture frames. He turned around, expecting to see, against all odds and logic, the person in the reflection.

Instead, he saw empty hallway, not a trace of any other _living _being around. It must have been his imagination, he thought, narrowing his eyes and walking off. Seeing things.

* * *

Natalia threw herself against the bank of lockers in the locker room, huffing slightly, Eric's words still ringing in her ears. It had been one of the strangest shifts of her _entire_ career, and from the looks of it, it wouldn't be over any time soon. She buried her head in her hands, gently massaging her forehead. A rush of cool, clean air flowed through the room. She wrinkled her nose. It didn't make sense for the air conditioner to randomly be kicking in this time of night.

She heard a clank and a faint scrape, almost as though someone was opening the door of one of the other lockers. "Hello?" she called out softly, not wanting to raise her voice too loud. "Is anyone there?"

At the lack of reply, she called out again, standing up and furtively searching around the room, scanning everything within eyesight. "Is anyone there? Who are you?" When there was still no reply, she began walking, cautiously tiptoeing, to prevent the wrong person from hearing her.

A locker door was open on the other side of the room, and she glanced over at it. "Was that open when I came in here?" she asked out loud, under her breath. She made her way over, taking steps two at a time, and peeked inside. Her eyebrows rose when she saw something very familiar lying on the locker shelf. "Isn't that Calleigh's crime scene light?" she thought, glancing at the name on the door, ensuring that Calleigh hadn't accidentally left it in her locker and forgotten about it. The last name was too short to be Duquesne, she could tell _that_ much. So much for _that_ theory. On closer examination, she could make out the last name, still etched into the nameplate as firmly as the day it was done.

She mentally noted the last name, and walked out of the locker room, aiming herself for the general direction of Calleigh and Eric. One mystery of the night solved. Now if they could only say the same for their cases, or the mystery of what was going on.

* * *

Calleigh stared out the window, watching the clouds move slowly against the sky, illuminated by the light of the moon. She pressed her forehead against the window pane and let out a slight yawn. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, turning around and facing Eric. "I didn't mean to yawn."

"It is fine," he said, walking over closer to her. "It's a waiting game at this point anyway."

She nodded, mentally debating the merits of brewing a fresh batch of coffee. "Eric?" she asked, looking over at him. "Are you interested in –"

Natalia cut her off, marching in the room, a proud smile on her face. "I found your crime scene light, Calleigh," she said. "It's in the locker room."

"What's it doing there? Where was it?"

"I don't know _what_ it's doing there; I didn't want to disturb the evidence so I came and got you before touching it."

"Horatio would be _so _proud, Natalia," Eric teased.

Both Calleigh and Natalia let out a slight laugh. "No, seriously, where in the locker room was it?" Calleigh asked, as the three of them made their way back toward the locker room. She feared she knew the answer already, but she waited for confirmation.

"Speedle's locker."

-_to be continued_-


	4. Of Revelations and Old Memories

**TITLE**: Return Gently at Twilight, Chapter 4  
**AUTHOR**: WhatBecomesOfYou  
**FANDOM**: CSI: Miami  
**PAIRINGS**: Eric/Calleigh  
**PROMPT**: Haunting  
**RATING**: PG  
**WORD COUNT**: 1016  
**SUMMARY**: One long night at the lab, a ghost is lurking around, and old memories are brought to the surface.  
**SPOILERS/WARNINGS**: Anything through the end of season seven is fair game.  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: Title taken from a poem by TS Eliot. Set sometime after the end of season seven, but no real timeline given. Thanks for all of the reviews and positive feedback on the story so far, and hope you enjoy the new chapter! Written for paranormal25 on LiveJournal.

* * *

"Speedle's locker?" Calleigh whispered, in an echo of Natalia's words. "Are you _positive_?" The implications of the statement sent waves of emotion through her, each wave breaking against the shoreline, another one right behind it. Who would _do_ such a thing?

"Yes." That one word sent a chill ricocheting up and down Calleigh's spine, and she stopped in the middle of the hallway, staring at the door to the locker room, mentally waging a war of emotions.

"Cal, are you sure you want to go in there?" Eric whispered, pulling strands of hair back from her ear. "If you don't want to go in, I will."

She shook her head rapidly, the loose strands swatting gently against the side of Eric's head. "I _have_ to go in there, Eric. It's just the locker room. What harm could come our way?"

* * *

Ryan sipped a cup of coffee in the break room, and glanced at his watch, yawning. "Seems like it should be closer to sunrise," he muttered under his breath, taking another hard swallow of coffee and wincing. "It's not even two yet."

"Now you know how we nightshifters feel," said an unfamiliar female voice from directly behind him. "Zoe Wilson, nightshift."

"Ryan Wolfe, dayshift," he said, turning around and facing her. He had seen her in the halls a few times that evening, but hadn't paid much attention. Preoccupied, he supposed.

"Enjoying it here so late?" she asked with a grin, pushing herself up onto the nearest table.

He let out a sigh, which quickly turned into another yawn. "Not really. It's a lot different here at night, and I _should_ be home asleep."

She shrugged, sipping nonchalantly from a nearly-empty bottle of water. "I couldn't _imagine_ being here during the day. Hey, have any of you dayshifters met Bob yet? He likes to come around during our shift, maybe he said hello to one of you."

"Bob? Who's Bob, your supervisor?"

She let out a low laugh. "No. Bob's _not_ my supervisor. Want to be let in on a little secret, Ryan?"

"Sure, Zoe."

Leaning forward, she stared directly at Ryan. "Bob's the lab's ghost."

* * *

Calleigh stepped tentatively into the locker room, more afraid than she found rational. But, she told herself, nothing about the night had been _rational_, so why should this be any different?

The room was dark, save for a flickering light in the ceiling. "I've never been down here this late at night," Calleigh whispered, her eyes adjusting to the dark. "It's a lot creepier."

"_That_'s an understatement," Eric said, scoffing a bit. "You said it was in Speed's locker, right, Natalia?"

"Yeah, it was the only locker open when I was in here," she replied, biting her lip and smoothing back her hair nervously.

A sudden cold wind rushed through the room. The remaining flickering light snapped off, and the locker door slammed shut. "Uh…what's going on, guys?" asked Natalia, her voice quavering.

"I'm leaving," Calleigh said, defiantly, marching toward the door. "Thank you, Natalia, for telling me where it is, I'll check it out later." She tried to open the door. "Uh…Eric? Natalia?"

"Yeah?"

"Why isn't the door opening?"

* * *

"Zoe, I hate to break it to you, but there's _no_ such thing as ghosts," Ryan said, staring right back at her. "There's no scientific proof to back it up."

"Have you not had strange occurrences tonight? Things that you can't explain using your common sense?"

"Earlier, I found all the microscope trays shattered. I thought it was a prank of some sort, or that it was fatigue."

"It's not a prank. The only other one of us who hasn't been out investigating a scene has been with me most of the night. Did you _drop_ the microscope trays, by chance?"

"Er…no?"

"Then you were probably visited by Bob," she said, nodding her head up and down empathetically, the colorful bangles hanging in her ears swaying to and fro. "He's harmless, _really_."

"Who is this Bob, anyway?"

"Well, I don't _know_ exactly, I've only been in Miami a year or two and he was here when I got here. My supervisor would be a better person to ask, but I believe he's out at a crime scene right now."

"Is he normally this active?" Ryan kept peppering her with questions.

"Not _exactly_," she said thoughtfully, wrinkling her nose slightly. "Tonight's the most active I've _ever_ seen him. It's almost like…he _knows_ y'all or something. Anyway, I should probably get back to work. They'll have my head on a silver platter later if I don't. Bye, Ryan."

"Bye…Zoe," he said, though as he looked where she had been standing, only a neglected water bottle lay in its place. Shaking his head, he went back to work. Ghosts. It _would_ make things make more sense. If they existed, that is.

* * *

Minutes passed slowly, as Eric held Calleigh tightly against him, and Natalia paced back and forth. "This is _so_ weird," Natalia muttered. "What is it with that light and Speed anyway?"

Calleigh shut her eyes and sighed, remembering how angry she had been with him that day on the boat. "He 'borrowed' it once and forgot to recharge it. I told Alexx I was going to kill him."

"Would you have?"

"No! Of course not."

"Then why is it _such_ a big deal?"

"_Because_," she took a sharp intake of breath and settled back further into Eric's arms. "That was just a couple of days before he was _shot_." This seemed to please Natalia, and the three fell into an uncomfortable silence.

A short time later, Eric tugged at Calleigh's sleeve. "Cal?" he whispered, his breath tickling her hair. "Look over there."

She looked. "What am I supposed to be seeing?" she whispered in reply.

"Natalia hasn't moved over there…has she?"

"No, I'm right here," Natalia said, glaring slightly, although neither Eric nor Calleigh could see her glare. "Why?"

"Then…there's you, there's me, and there's Natalia. Who's _that_?" Eric said, motioning to where a form was crouched on the floor, eyes piercing the darkness. They were not alone.

-_to be continued_-


	5. Of Best Friends and Sunrises

**TITLE**: Return Gently at Twilight, Chapter 5  
**AUTHOR**: WhatBecomesOfYou  
**FANDOM**: CSI: Miami  
**PAIRINGS**: Eric/Calleigh, possibly some Speed/Calleigh, if you want to see it that way.  
**PROMPT**: Haunting  
**RATING**: PG  
**WORD COUNT**: 756  
**SUMMARY**: One long night at the lab, a ghost is lurking around, and old memories are brought to the surface.  
**SPOILERS/WARNINGS**: Anything through the end of season seven is fair game.  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: Title taken from a poem by TS Eliot. Set sometime after the end of season seven, but no real timeline given. Written for paranormal25 on LiveJournal. This is the last chapter, thank you all _so_ much for reading and reviewing.

* * *

Calleigh glanced over, a wave of something – sadness, fear, some indescribable mixture of the two – passing over her. She squinted, attempting to discern shapes in the dark. Being inclined to believe in supernatural phenomena was not something that she was used to. Ghosts were something to be confined to campfire stories and spooky movies, they weren't real…but there _was_ something unexplainable, something she quite couldn't put her finger on.

"Just because you can't see him, Cal, doesn't mean he's not there," Eric whispered, recalling one of the last times he had seen Speed. Had that been his ghost visiting, or was it, as the doctors and Horatio suggested, hallucinations?

And then, she made out a faint outline. "No," she said, between clenched teeth. "I can _see_ something." Chills rattled through her spine, as she reached out a tentative hand toward the outline. "Speed? Is that you?"

Natalia crawled over closer to Eric and Calleigh. "What's she doing?" Natalia whispered to Eric. "Can ghosts talk?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure," he replied in hushed tones. "Probably."

"But _what_ is she doing?"

"If we're quiet, maybe we'll find out."

Her hand was flat, her fingers pointed to the ceiling. Gently, she inched her hand out closer to what she perceived to be his ghost. She glanced behind her, looking cautiously at Eric and Natalia, almost for some sort of implicit approval, before placing her hand right near the edge of the outline.

There was a faint rustling sound next to her ear, and an icy tingle swept through her hand, a soft glide, nearly indiscernible, almost like a _very _cold kitten's tail gently rubbing against her palm. She leaned into the touch. It was comforting in a way.

"_Calleigh_."

A soft whisper in her ear, yet it was clear as a bell. She sucked in her breath, a faint hiss emitting from her lips, and she found herself having to fight the urge not to cry. She rocked back, scrambling to get on her own steady feet. She leaned against the lockers, pressing a hand to her forehead.

"What happened, Cal?" Eric asked, as he pulled her close to him, allowing her to lean on him for support instead of the lockers.

"He said my name," she replied, feeling the stale air of the locker room rush back into her lungs, as she sunk into his embrace. "He said my name," came her voice, more quietly this time, more thoughtful in tone. The repetition was to allow the words to sink in, the reality of the situation stark in her mind.

Eric glanced over at Natalia. "Can you check to see if the door's open?" he asked, propping Calleigh up.

She walked over and cautiously jiggled the handle. "I think it's open," she replied. "I guess he wants to let us out."

"Good. Let's go."

* * *

"Where have you three been all night? There was a ghost lurking around, after all," Ryan said, looking over at them. "I thought Casper would have gotten you by now."

"Er…"

"Umm…"

"We know," the three said in unison, casting glances at each other.

"You _know_ there was a ghost?" he asked, almost incredulous. He thought he had the biggest scoop of the century thus far, and he had been scooped? Maybe, he thought grimly, this is why journalism had never been an option for his career path.

"Ryan, there's a _lot_ of things you don't know about tonight," Calleigh said, yawning slightly and covering her mouth. "I'm going to go out for a proper breakfast, anyone want to come along?"

"I'm coming," Eric said, wrapping his arm around her waist and smiling.

"Aren't you going to thank me for solving _all_ of our cases so you can _have_ that proper breakfast?"

"Yes, our stomachs thank you," replied Eric with a laugh. "Natalia, you interested?"

"Nah, you two go on ahead. I'll find something later."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

As the first flickers of sunlight spread over the horizon, Eric and Calleigh walked out of the lab, arm in arm, laughing and feeling the warm morning breeze in the air. It was a nice relief, after the night they had had, and a warm, inviting breakfast awaited them.

Looking out from a lab window, Speed watched intently as two of his best friends walked away, and his lips curled into a small smile. It was nice to see them again, after all this time. Hopefully they'd be back again some night. Then they could hang out again…just like how it used to be.

-_fini_-


End file.
